Back from Maine and it is about 9:30 at night, which is 12:30 on the time zone that our body is used to. At least it will feel like we slept in tomorrow. We returned to a heat wave as the 100's are forecast over the next few days. The pool is at 79 degrees and just about ready to swim. Memorial Day is next weekend, so the timing is good.
The trip was incredible. Our accommodations for the first two days paid for by the Insurance group that I serve on the board of, was absolutely tremendous. The room at the Stage Neck Inn was large and the resort was awesome. It is the first two pictures above. We got into York Harbor about 9 PM on Darla's birthday and everything in town was closed. We wanted to go and get some clam chowder in town, but we were closed out. We ended up driving into the next town over and getting some bread and lunch meat and that was Darla's birthday dinner. I was able to make it up to her on Wednesday as we had a morning meeting and then had the afternoon free. We drove out to the Nubble Lighthouse and had lunch with Jeff and Linda Barnett at Fox's Restaurant which offered seafood and plenty of lobster. Darla and I had clam chowder and shared a grilled lobster and Havarti sandwich. We then went out and saw the lighthouse and drove into Kennebunk and strolled the town. We got back to the resort in time to change and head to drinks and dinner.
We had a fantastic steak and lobster tail meal and our friend, Linda, had a 2 lb Maine Lobster. You can see the picture of her preparing to do battle with the crustacean above. We had a great meal and a good time visiting with the group.
We were up mid morning on Thursday and had breakfast with the group before checking out of the hotel and going out to Ogunquit and Perkins Cove to take a 90 minute cruise of the York coastline from Perkins Cove up to the Nubble lighthouse in York Harbor. We took the tour with Jeff and Linda and then drove into Wells and did some shopping. Darla and I headed into Kennebunkport and checked into the Beach House Inn. The picture is the 11th down and the 12th shows the view from the resort. The room we had was not as nice as the Stage Neck Inn where we had the conference, but it was in a much better location overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and within minutes of Kennebunkport. Darla and I went exploring on Thursday, driving into Kennebunkport and seeing the Bush Estate on Walker Point (You can see the plaque above and a picture of the compound from the main road). Darla and I had dinner that night at a nice brew house overlooking the cove in Kennebunkport.
Friday, Darla and I had a nice breakfast at the Beach House Inn and then drove up to Portland and did some exploring of the lighthouses in the area. It was a warm day reaching almost 94 degrees, but both windy and overcast, which was odd. We were able to see 4 lighthouses in the morning and then had a great lunch at Dock's Seafood in South Portland. The restaurant was both a restaurant and a fish market with lobster tanks. I had been craving fish and chips and finally got a fresh and delicious meal of fried haddock and French fries with malt vinegar and an iced tea, Darla had fried shrimp and was happy as well.
We headed back to the Inn in the afternoon as we were supposed to meet Jeff and Linda for dinner. They also ended up in Portland and went on another boat trip to see the lighthouses we saw, but from the water. They were running late and took a rain check on dinner. Darla and I decided to head back to Wells and have dinner at the Maine Diner. It is a great little diner made even more famous by Guy Fieri and his show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives". I had a chicken salad roll (I was overdosing on seafood) and Darla ended up having clam chowder and a macaroni and cheese that I helped her eat.
We drove from there into Kennebunkport. Darla wanted to go to one of the shops that was closed when we were there Thursday night, but it was open Friday night. She was trying on clothes and I was outside taking a phone call when Jeff and Linda walked up behind me and grabbed my phone. Linda went in to see Darla and ended up buying the same top Darla had picked out. You can see a picture of them above in their matching outfits. We left them as they headed to dinner.
Saturday we checked out of the Beach House Inn and headed back to Boston. My plan was to go to the Freedom Trail, but the crowds in Boston were unbelievable. The roads were closed to traffic and I just about ran out of gas trying to navigate through the crowds. After being in the little beach towns in and around Maine, Boston was a bummer for me. We ended up gassing up and driving over to Winthrop, Massachusetts. Darla and I drove into town and couldn't get into the hotel until 2:30, so we went to lunch at the Boston Harbor and had seafood at Belle Island Seafood. I had a haddock sandwich and fries and Darla had clam chowder. We went over and got checked into the hotel. The hotel was on the water in Winthrop and overlooked the Boston skyline. You can see the pictures we took of sunset as well as pictures that Darla and I took relaxing on the lawn overlooking the harbor. The Crystal Cove Inn is the picture taken between the sunset shots.
Darla and I had dinner down the street from the hotel at a little Italian bistro called D'Parma's. It was an authentic Italian restaurant and I had gnocchi and a pasta fagioli soup. Darla had a Caprese Salad and lobster ravioli. We had thought about driving into Little Italy in Boston, but this was so much better with great service and a great little venue to boot.
Today was a long day of travel with a 6 hour flight from Boston to Los Angeles and then an hour jaunt from LA to Sacramento. We had Omar, our Uber driver take us and pick us up. As I said, we returned to heat and I spent about an hour cleaning the pool and spa and watering the plants around the pool. It was an awesome trip and one that we likely wouldn't have done save for the board position. That is it. I'll be back at this in a week's time. Ciao.
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